Many sermons have been preached that have given sound instruction for those seeking to live the way of God. Sermons are a powerful form of sharing the message of the Holy Text. Still there is room for individual interpretations and personal agendas to be expressed. That may not be a bad thing. Just because a teacher has an agenda or a misinformed interpretation, doesn’t mean that his or her teaching is false. And sometimes it does. This is why hermeneutics plays such an important and helpful role in the sermon preparation process.
Let’s consider one passage of Scripture where a lack of definite background may have allowed for a bit of false teaching.
Genesis 3 is a wonderfully interesting passage of Scripture. It has been taught for centuries, and has carried with it great mysteries and lots of opinions. I want to focus specifically on verse 3, which reads, “but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
How many times have we heard that Eve lied and put words into the mouth of God by exaggerating His instructions? God did say to Adam, “…you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:17). In this passage, “touching the fruit” is not mentioned, however, not all of Adam’s conversations with God are recorded in the text. That is because much of the Bible is laconic. If it weren’t, we’d have a few thousand years worth of daily journals to sift through. Even the Gospels include very little of the 30-something years of Jesus life on earth (see John 21:25).
So what is my point about Genesis 3:3? As Dr. Jeff Niehaus, Professor of Old Testament Theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, believes, it is very likely that Adam did tell her that God said the tree was not even to be touched. And God very likely did say that to Adam.
Why does it matter? It matters because if she lied before she ate the fruit, then she sinned before she sinned. To teach that Eve lied by exaggerating God’s message, is to teach that she didn’t have to eat the fruit to sin; she already fell when she lied about what God said.
This may seem a bit petty to some, but the point is that the story is not written to teach us that Eve was a sinner before she took the fruit and ate it. The story is written to teach that she and Adam brought sin into the world when they ate the forbidden fruit.
Adam and Eve were both deceived by the serpent, and both knew, just as we do, that a temptation should not be received by a follower of God, and it’s best if we don’t even touch it.
Many blessings,
Johnny
© 2008 Jonathan P. Gainey and Flock’s Diner.
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